New Delhi train stampede kills 18 in the middle of Kumbh Mela Rush

The relatives of Pinky Devi, 38, who died at the New Delhi railway station, Stampede. At least 18 people were killed and more than a dozen wounds in the crowd, in New Delhi on February 15. Photo credit: PTI

A confluence of poor railway security measures and a devote Maha Kumbh Mela On February 15, it resulted in the death of 18 people, mostly women.

The 45 -day event, projected as the world’s largest religious congregation, began on January 13 and will end on February 26. The tragedy of the New Delhi train station (NDLS) is the second mortal stampede connected to the Kumbh Mela, the first in the first Sangam in Prayagraj on January 29, which charged 30 lives.

Several videos have appeared on social networks that show frustrated travelers, unable to address overpopulated trains in the railroad stations in northern India, even destroying windows. What aggravated chaos in NDLs was the delay in three of the four trains to Prayagraj; This resulted in unexpected overcrowding in the stations, according to officials. The Delhi police added that the stampede was also triggered by confusion about advertisements about two trains with similar names: the Prayagraj special that reached the 16 -time passenger platform, since the Prayagraj Express was already parked on platform 14.

Also read | Mela for politics

When Front line He visited the station the day after the tragedy, platform 15 was a photo of pain, with a strong police presence. The vendors and goalkeepers were visibly distressed by the horror they had witnessed. “I’ve been working here for almost 25 years, but I had never seen something like that during the Kumbh Mela,” said Lakhanlal Meena, a goalkeeper, remembering that the crowd swells on platforms 14 and 15.

Other goalkeepers Sukesh and Balbir added: “The entire crowd began to move from platform 13 when an announcement was made about a sudden platform change. They used the catwalk, and that is where the stampede happened. “

There were no security personnel or government personnel in sight, the goalkeepers recalled. They transported the dead and injured in their bagged wooden cars. “An official arrived 40-45 minutes after the incident. The goalkeepers and vendors were the ones who saved lives, ”said Balbir. “We took the women and children who had been trampled. We call the ambulance. “

During festivals such as Chhath Puja or Diwali, the crowds in the railroad stations are generally managed with 30-40 personnel of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government’s Railway Police per platform. “But when the stampede occurred, there were only two present on platform 15,” he observed a supplier who did not want to reveal his name. “During Chhath, additional battalions are implemented and string divisors are used for an orderly approach. This time, there were no such arrangements. ”

Observers speculate that additional tickets sold for general compartments could have been another reason for tragedy. The victims of the stampede of the Delhi station were taken to the Lok Nayak Hospital Jai Prakash (LNJP), which was strongly closed, avoiding access to the media. “Due to government restrictions, we are not allowed to talk to the media,” said LNJP supervision doctor Front line.

Yogi AdityanathThe government of ‘S has been under intense public scrutiny for allegedly minimizing the actual number of deaths prior to dawn in Prayagraj on January 29. Multiple media reports have contradicted official claims, suggesting that the Government did not reveal a second stampede that occurred later. The same day, just kilometers from the Sangam nose point.

Also read | A dip in politics at Mahakumbh

Adityanath has faced severe criticism from several sectors. He had waited 40 million devotees ahead of the Mela, claiming that his government had made arrangements to accommodate more than 100 million people. Samajwadi party manager Akhilesh Yadav He affirmed that the Adityanath government has minimized the total daily footprint in the city “because when international media or academic institutions then evaluate the administration and management of this event, they will find that the real number of attendees was not handled properly.”

Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati by Joshimath also criticized Adityanath for his “misleading” comments after Prayagraj stampery and for VIP culture on the site of Mela.

The opposition has attacked the BJP for Delhi’s tragedy. The secretary general of the Congress Committee of the entire India, Randeep Singh Surjewala, said that Railroad Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who spoke of “world class arrangements,” he should resign. The opposition leaders also pointed out that the resources spent on advertisements (for the Kumbh) would have been best spent on creating more efficient arrangements for devotees. The exaggeration created by the announcement for Maha Kumbh could also have contributed to the additional increase in devotees.

The small city of Prayagraj has been overwhelmed by an influx of unprecedented crowds, striving its already limited civic infrastructure. Despite the initial shouting demands of certain drool And Hindutva activists to prevent Muslims from entering the Mela area, local Muslims have been welcoming devotees to their homes and sanctuaries, offering hospitality and support.

Meanwhile, the Railroad Ministry has constituted an investigation committee of two members to investigate the stampede in NDLs. While the families of the deceased in Prayagraj received financial compensation from RS.20 Lakh, the Indian railways announced compensation for RS.10 Lakh for the afflicted families of the NDLs stampede.

The researchers who probe the stampede of January 29 of Prayagraj have now begun to see a possible conspiracy, analyzing data of more than 16,000 active mobile numbers in the Sangam Naring area, the epicenter of the stampede, the day of the incident.